The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1887-08-20
FAIRPLAY.
Editor, Telegraph:

communication of last week as "un-
philosophic, wrangling and insolent."
1 can assure him that l had no desire
to be insolent 10 him, nor did suspect
that it would be deemed insolent to-
tell truths, however disagreeable, in
language that was plain but not in the
least scurrilous or abusive. / have
known for some time that ii was con-
against ring methods, but I gave the
editor OF the Bulletin credit for greater
breadth and liberality than to suppose
he could share such opinions. If he
means to say l am unphilosoph:c be-
cause l did not indulge in two columns
of platitudes on the negro question,
I plead guilty t. the charge. l had
no leisure for such philosophy. 1t is
not interesting to the people and has
nothing to do with the present issues.
suppose he considers il sound poll
resent his opponents. One would sup
pose, to read his article, that the antir
ring movement in this parish vas
intended to take away the Negroes
rig 1T to vote. He knows as well as l
do that that is not one of its purpose,,
nor do the anti-rins Democrats desire
to exclude the negro from v"t., at
Democratic primaries. We are not
quits. fools. We know that the negro
voter feels the weight of the rings
yoke quite as heavily IA the white
Of the negro voter are with Us and
against the ring. What folly would it
be then for us to deprive u friend of the
power to help US! No sir, the anti
| ring people do not wist, to excIuds the
| negro from the ba'lnt-box or the Demo-
cratic primary, but they do insist up
on such distribution of the party
power that the negro vote can no lon
ger be used TO injure both the negro
and the white man.
The Bulletin article is exceedingly
| uaISu3 unAIcu'iJ All" UNJUST W t"o
negro voters as whole. 1t might
have been written in the worst days of
recons truction, and indeed we fear its
vOlIble author is still living away
back in '72 or ~. Has tho negro
voter learned nothing at all after ten
years of Democratic tutelage? Is it
right to compare him TO a hog in point
of intelligence, t. say that all negro
voters can be bought like merchandise?
There are Ignorant even degraded me-
gro voters, but there are some among
them as steadfast in their convictions
as their white Democratic fellow
citizens.
| We have no quarrel with the men
who assert II right to control the negro
voters in their employment, always
provided they do not use this power to
injure their white fellow .itizens. But
we do contend that the revolution of
44STG was for the good of the entire
people and that it, prime object was
to establish white supremacy, and that
the white people of Ouachita parish
never could have been induced to take
tho pant they did had they understood
that the effect would he to transfer the
control of the negro vote from the
hands of few Radicals to those of a
few Democrats to result in the com-
plete subsection of the Democratic
party to the will of IL few men. What
does the Bulletin man say in this very
article:
"Whoever could succeed in winning
it (the coiored voteD would be sure OF
election, and IRE iOOuid thus be stW as
much iViGt,' the domination of this
ignorant class as zoe rcre during me
,cOrSf peyiOd Of the era of reconstruct
Ion."
Has he not in these words exactly
described the condition of Onachiia
parish under ring rule? That is what
the peoples movement is directed
against They are resolved that the
party shall he organized aud on a white
basis 50 that it shalt not be in the
power of "A few men. who control Il
large negro vote, by whatever means,
to dictate t, the vast majority OF white
Democrats in Ouachita parish.
| Now the Bulletin man pfetands fC